Yukino sighed, looking both tired and resigned. Her long hair fell loose. Irritably brushing it aside, she shot Miss Miura a fierce glare.
"Our parents are close and have known each other since we were little, so we happened to meet at a New Year's gathering. That's all. It's not the kind of relationship you're thinking of."
"Yeah, I just happened to be there too."
Yukino spoke calmly, as though she were merely stating the facts. Yuihama added with a wry smile.
In fact, that was exactly what had happened. We had run into each other in Chiba on January second. It was that simple. The problem was how Miura would interpret it.
"Is that so...?"
Miura narrowed her eyes as if judging whether they were telling the truth, staring intently at Yukino and Yuihama before suddenly turning to me.
"What about the shut-in ghost?"
"Huh? Oh, uh... yeah..."
Caught completely off guard, I gave a bizarrely flustered response. Even though I was affirming it, I somehow made it sound suspicious! The doubt in Miura's eyes only deepened.
"...Whatever. I guess I'll just believe you."
Unexpectedly, Miura gave up without much fuss. She sighed in resignation. Yukino's eyes widened in surprise. I probably had the same expression on my face.
Seeing us keep staring at her, Miura awkwardly twirled the ends of her hair around her finger and muttered softly.
"It's just... how should I put it? Hayato rarely smiles like that. He looked really happy. He's never reacted like that before, right? So it makes me wonder even more..."
If I had to describe Hayama's smile, though, I'd call it more of a sneer or a burst of laughter...
Yuihama gave an "Ahaha" and smiled wryly, probably remembering the scene.
"Ah... I was kind of surprised too... We're not